CyberArt – An Eclectic Approach
by Asmita Duranjaya

(page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)

1. Short History of CyberArt

The 1980ies were the boom-period of cyber, and artists, who before felt blamed to be related to that term, felt now proud to be a part of this movement.
In the area of Manga or Anime Blame! (1997) by Tsutomu Nihei showed influences of cyberpunk in connection with motifs of the Transhumanism (s. for example the movie Transcendence with Johnny Depp 2014). Transhumanism focus on the idea, that super-computers will replace the human brain and extend the human options of knowledge and consciousness.

=> Movie_3 (Excerpt of Blame! by Tsutomu Nihei 1997)

The genre has been enhanced by new influences, for example by steampunk, as it is developed by Gibson and Sterling in their collaborative novel The Difference Engine, and by fantasy-elements.

=> see more about Steampunk on my webpage: http://www.ulme-mini-verlag.de/steampunk/steampunk.htm .

Another influence came from Bio-Punk, where the changing of human life does not come from technological implants and enhancements, but from genetic manipulation.
1988 one of the most influential PC-games in cyberpunk-style was published as a version of Gibson‘s Neuromancer.

=> Movie_4 (Excerpt of Neuromancer - early but influential computer-game on Amiga)

It‘s not for nothing, that the development of cyber-culture occurred parallely to the development of the computer. Starting with the first personal computers Atari and Amiga (1985) the hardware became increasingly powerful from year to year and from decade to decade and included the use of multimedia and the saving of artistic products on easily exchangeable media.